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1972 Map of Rotten Bananas Butte

Name: 1972 Topographic Map of Rotten Bananas Butte
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1975
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1975

About this map

The high desert landscape of the Navajo Indian Reservation is defined by isolated landmarks and critical water sources in this early 1970s survey. Dominating the northern horizon, the whimsically named Rotten Bananas Butte stands near the Apollo marker, while Flat Top Butte anchors the central terrain. The distribution of life here is traced through scattered ranching infrastructure and hydrological features, including the Black Rock Ranch and named watering points such as Tsosie Well and the Wash Dug Well.

Remote washes like Cottonwood Wash, Mackelprang Wash, and Billy Wash cut through the arid plains, leading toward the prominent formation at Black Rock. The presence of several springs, including Assan Dechali Spring and Buzzard Spring, alongside a network of unnamed Jeep Trails, suggests a landscape of seasonal movement and careful water management. For those interested in the archaeology of the Southwest, a notation of Ruins south of the buttes points to the deep history of habitation in this portion of Navajo County.